Adjustable hanger



i 23, 1954 J. E. PFANKUCH 7 2,597,572

ADJUSTABLE HANGER Filed NOV. 30, 1949 3nnentor Jo SEPH E. Dana/K004 attorneys ADJUSTABLE HANGER .ioseph Edward Pfankuch, Menominee, Mich. Application November 30, 1949, Serial No. 130,243

1 Claim. (Cl. 248-31) This invention relates to improvements in adjustable hangers, and more particularly to hangers adapted for the support of pictures, mirrors and like art objects.

It is the principal object of the invention to provide a hanger having adjustable features adapting it for the support from a wall of pictures or mirrors and the like, and which facilitates the straightening and adjustment of the hung object.

In this connection it is an object of the invention to provide such a hanger having a wall bracket portion and a hook portion slidably interengaged with the bracket.

Another object of the invention is to provide the sliding hook member with an outwardly formed flange or tongue which cooperates with the bracket slideway to prevent accidental separation of the parts and which further provides a mounting for an adjusting means.

A further object of the invention is to incorporate these features in an inexpensive hanger having the various parts stamped out of suitable sheet material.

Other objects will be more apparent to one skilled in the art upon an examination of the following disclosure.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of an adjustable hanger embodying the invention.

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal cross sectional view of the hanger mounted in use for the support of a picture or the like, this view being taken along the line 22 of Fig. 3 and showing fragmentarily in section a portion of a wall to which the hanger is mounted.

Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic view showing the manner of use of a pair of adjustable hangers for the support of a heavy picture or mirror or the like.

It is conventional practice to hang heavy pictures or mirrors or other art objects from paired spaced hangers as shown in Fig. 3. Each hanger is nailed or otherwise secured to the wall and includes a hook 11 which engages one of the hinged rings 12 which are secured at both sides of the picture 14 on mountings 13.

A double support is almost always necessary for safety considerations when the picture is heavy and of value. It is frequently difficult to fix the hangers to the wall at exactly the same horizontal level, consequently, if conventional hangers are used, an exact measurement may not be made in the first instance, and the hangers will have to be changed to correct misalignment. This, of course, mars the wall and otherwise consumes the time of the person doing the work.

The novel hanger hereinafter disclosed makes it unnecessary to accurately measure and position the paired hangers at exactly the same horizontal level, as an adjustment is provided to compensate for any initial inaccuracy.

The hanger comprises a bracket portion or body 17 which is provided at its upper end with an obliquely extending arm 18 having a downwardly extending flange 19 provided with an aperture 20. The aperture 20 is in oblique alignment with an aperture 21 in the body for the purpose of mutually receiving the shank of a nail 22, as best shown in Fig. 2, for the support of the bracket. The bracket may be additionally provided with a key hole slot 23 which may be slipped over the head of a screw or nail for the support of the bracket if that type of suspension is desired.

The lower end of the bracket 17 is outwardly flanged at 24 and is provided with an elongated aperture 25 closely adjacent the body of the bracket and which serves as a guideway. An adjustable member or slide hook 28 carries States Patent a hook 11 at one end and has a shank portion longitudinally slidable in the guideway 25. The other end of the slide hook 28 is formed outwardly to provide a tongue 29 which is centrally apertured at 30. The tongue 29 provides a mount to receive a bolt 31 through the aperture 30. The bolt has a head 32 supported on tab or anchorage 33 struck out from the body 17 and which also provides a mount for the bolt. Nut 34 coacts with the bolt 31 at the underside of tongue 30 to support the slide hook 28 and to provide a threaded adjustment whereby the position of the hook 11 with respect to the bracket may be varied by manipulation of the bolt head by a screwdriver.

As may be readily observed the tongue 29 of slide hook 28 is disposed between the guideway flange 24 and the tab 33 of the bracket and is movable in a range of adjustment therebetween dependent upon the relative adjustment of the nut and bolt. As best shown in Fig. 2 the nut is desirably made in polygon form and is made sufficiently large so that one of its flat sides is in contact with the outer face of slide hook 28 to prevent rotation of the nut during adjustment of the bolt.

As tongue 29 is positioned above projecting bracket flange 24, accidental failure of the bolt 31 will not result in the picture being dropped to the floor as flange 25 and tongue 29 will cooperate to prevent separation of the hanger parts.

In use, a pair of the improved hangers are merely fixed to a wall at approximately the required levels and at the proper distance apart. The hinge rings 12 of the picture are then engaged with the respective hooks 11 and the picture is then brought into exact horizontal alignment by manipulating the bolt 31 to lower or raise either side of the picture.

I claim:

An adjustable picture hanger comprising a bracket having a substantially flat wall engaging face and an opposite face having projections, said bracket and projections being formed from a single strip of bracket material, said projections comprising a first projection at one end of the strip, said first projection having an enclosed aperture forming a guideway, a second projection intermediate the ends of the strip and comprising an anchor tab provided with an aperture, and a third projection extending obliquely at the other end of the stri the strip having an aperture at the base of the third projection and the third projection having an aperture above said strip aperture, a mounting means extending through the said aperture for suspending the bracket from a wall, a slide hook having a shank longitudinally slidable in said guideway and substantially in face contact with the bracket and confined by said first projection against outward and against lateral displacement, an apertured tongue on said shank, said tongue projecting from said shank between the first and second bracket projections and in the same direction as the said first and second projections extend, whereby to limit movement of said hook in the range of tongue movement between said projections, and threaded adjusting means extending through the second projection aperture and tongue aperture aforesaid, and having a head supported on said second bracket projection, said tongue being engageable with said first projection on release of said threaded means whereby to prevent separation of the hook from the bracket. 

